Secrets Unveiled
by cathinel13
Summary: Following chapter 223. Kyoko learns something new about her mother and seeks comfort in Ren. Ren consoles her and comes to a realization and decides to finally put his stage name to rest. But how can he do this without losing Kyoko?


Skip Beat Fan Fiction

Chapter 224

*************************************Disclaimer**************************************

I do not own Skip Beat's characters, plots or themes. This is a fan-made fiction of future chapters.

Note

Please read chapter 223 before reading. This fan fiction uses chapter 223 as a spring board.

* * *

Tears swelled in Kyoko's eyes as her gaze fell upon Ren. "No way," she muttered shakenly, "Ren." Kyoko bolted off of the park bench and rushed to the safety of Ren's open arms. Kyoko felt his warmth encompass her as Ren gently held her against his chest. Her hands found their way up Ren's shirt, grasping the fabric in her fists. Kyoko pressed her forehead against Ren as she tries to speak through her sobs. "Why did…? How come….?" Words were lost to her cries.

Ren remained silent, holding Kyoko closer. His heart ached for her as she continued crying into his shirt. The urging need to say something to console her was powerful but finding the words to say was the problem.

The sound of Kyoko's sobs down sided, having nearly exhausted herself. With her head still resting on Ren's chest, Kyoko murmurs "All my life, I have been trying to earn my mother's approval and love. To hear her say that… that I never existed." Kyoko clenched her eyes shut as uncontrollable tears flowed once again from them. She cried out in sadness and frustration as she wondered why her mother did everything she did. _Why did she hate me? Why did she leave me with the Fuwa family? Why did she sign the papers necessary for my acting work? Why did she say she never had a child? Why?_

It pained Ren to see Kyoko like this. Kyoko always had a light to her, a light that was strong enough to penetrate his world of darkness and help him begin to heal his old wounds. As he supported her in his arms, her light was diminished to nearly nothing.

A lull had fallen on Kyoko's crying so Ren decided to take the opportunity to finally say something to help her heal and smile once again. "Don't you have a father?" he muttered.

"I never knew him" Kyoko said sadly.

"I didn't mean your biological one. Didn't Kuu Hizuri call you his daughter?"

Kyoko thought back on the last time she saw him last, remembering their newly formed father and daughter relationship. "Yes, I do have a father" she said as she wiped her eyes.

"So wouldn't his wife be your mother?"

"Yes, father mentioned that" she sniffled.

Ren smirked, "You have parents that love you and many other people that care for you." He paused momentarily, "One of those people being me." Ren smoothed Kyoko's hair and lightly kissed her on top of her head. "You are an extraordinary woman with amazing talents and I am proud of your accomplishments. I can imagine your parents feel the same way as I do."

Kyoko wiped away her tears. She imagined what Kuu and Julie would tell her, saying they loved her and that they were proud of her. She imagined the couple embracing Kyoko in a large hug, whispering that they were so happy to have a daughter like her. "You think so?" Kyoko asked.

"Yeah, I do."

Kyoko sniffles as she cracks a smile. "Thank you. I'm…" Kyoko searched for the words to say, drawing a blank on how to describe her feelings.

"I understand" Ren muttered. He wrapped his arms completely around Kyoko's petite body and gave her a firm hug. "It's getting late. Would you like me to drive you back to your place?"

Kyoko shakes her head and looks up at Ren. "No, I don't want to..." she bites her lip, "I don't want to be alone. Would it be alright if I stayed at your place for tonight?"

"Yeah, it'll always be alright with me."

* * *

Shou watched Kyoko contemplate her emotions on the park bench from the shadows of a nearby alley way. Shou wanted to leave her alone as she requested but something in him wouldn't allow himself to completely leave her. _I'm just here to protect her from perverts, that's all. It's not like I love her or anything like that_. He told himself this in his mind whenever he wondered why he was sulking next to a dumpster in some dirty alley.

Shou closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, attempting to find comfort on the masonry wall. He wanted to do more for Kyoko but he knew she wouldn't open up to him. Not anymore, not after all that has happened between them. _Damn, you idiot_ Shou scolded himself.

The sound of a woman's cry made him quickly look to where he last saw Kyoko only to find she wasn't there. He had a sense of urgency to find her, looking in all directions to find her. Before he took even one step out of the alley, he found Kyoko being embraced by Ren Tsuruga as she wept. Shou stopped in his tracks to observe Kyoko's behavior with his enemy. If he wanted to be his normal selfish self now, he would have wanted to slam a wedge between the two. Tonight, though, it wasn't about what Shou wanted; it was about Kyoko and what she needed. What she needed was someone close to lend her a shoulder to cry on.

Shou stares at the two for a moment longer before retrieving his baseball cap from his pocket. He attempted to shield his face with the brim of the hat as he trekked down the street to where his driver was waiting with the car.

* * *

Ren opened the door to his apartment, allowing Kyoko to enter first. "I do believe you have some clothes in the guest bedroom still. You should change into something comfortable?" Ren suggests to Kyoko as he locked the door behind himself.

Kyoko murmured in agreement and nodded her head. She took off her shoes and retreated to the guest bedroom for her things. Ren decided he ought to do the same since he will be retiring to his bed soon anyways. He went to his bedroom, first to find a pair of pajama bottoms. Then he unbuttoned his shirt, stripped himself of it, and through it directly in the hamper. He did the same for the rest of his clothing then slipped into his pajama pants, leaving his chest bare.

When he was finished, there was a knock on the door jamb. Ren looked towards the door he left open and found Kyoko lurking in the door way in a baggy shirt and black leggings. "Um, Ren? I have a question for you" she said nervously.

"What is it?" Ren asked.

"Well, the thing is, when we were the Heel siblings, I've grown accustomed to us sleeping in the same bed," she said timidly, "and I believe it would give me comfort if we did that again… at least only for tonight. Would it be alright if I slept with you tonight?" Kyoko looked to Ren, pleading for him to say yes.

Ren was surprised because Kyoko was requesting this of him, but it did make sense why she would want to do such a thing. As long as Kyoko was alright with it, Ren would gladly do it. Ren nodded, "Yeah, it's alright by me. Are you tired now?"

"Yeah" she murmured, rubbing her eyes.

"Alright, get comfortable then. I'll be back" Ren muttered. Kyoko nodded then continued into his room. Ren left to turn off the lights in the apartment and returned to the bedroom soon after. Before turning off the bedroom light, Ren took a moment to take in the image of the woman he loves in his bed, waiting for him. He then continued to the bed and turned on a dim lamp on his night stand. Ren pulled back the covers and settled into bed.

Kyoko rolled over to face Ren and nestled up against his chest.

"Sweet dreams Kyoko" Ren whispered. Kyoko moaned in response and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The Next Day, Afternoon

Ren entered the Presidents swanky office and finds the eccentric man, dressed as a sultan, enjoying an espresso on his sofa. "Did she?" he asked, glancing up with a somber face. Ren nodded his head. President Takarada's expression changed to one of hurt and sympathy. "In all my years, I have never seen a mother say such a thing. I believed it was impossible for a parent to hate their own child, but to outright erase their existence is beyond cruel." Takarada remembered back to when Kyoko did that acting exercise when Kyoko was just starting as a Love Me member. How her face looked when she said that it was possible for a parent to hate even their own child.

President Takarada cleared his throat before he asked, "How is she doing?"

Ren sat down on the sofa across from the President. "When I found her, she was an emotional mess. After a while, she calmed down and I told her that she has many people that love her and care for her. I also reminded her that Hizuri adopted her so to speak as his own daughter and his wife is her mother and how much they love her." Ren clasped his hands together. "This whole ordeal had me thinking of my own situation." He paused to gather his thoughts. "I was the one who turned my back on my parents, not the other way around. I should be grateful to have parents that love me but I just took them for granted. Since I have become successful in this industry, I think it is time that I put 'Ren Tsuruga' to rest."

President Takarada grinned subtly. "That's wonderful news. So what is our plan, hmm? Have a big reveal on a special? Have a funeral for your stage name?"

Ren shook his head. "President, don't be going off making crazy plans quite yet" he said.

"Why not? Putting a stage name to rest is a big deal, especially in your case" Takarada enthused.

"It's about Kyoko" Ren said bluntly. The President immediately calmed down to listen to what Ren had to say. "When I was 12, my family took me to Kyoto. I was exploring through the forest when I met Kyoko." Takarada's eyes widen in surprise. Ren continued, "Her English wasn't perfect so instead of calling me by my real name, she called me Corn. She told me that when she first saw me, she thought I was a fairy prince. I didn't want her to be saddened if I told her I wasn't so I played along, acting and telling stories as if I was a fairy prince."

Takarada tried to hold back a laugh, covering his mouth with his hand. The thought of Kuon dressing as a fairy prince, wings and all, was ridiculously funny. He cleared his throat, "Continue."

"My life as a child actor trying to overcome my father's shadow turned into a story of a fairy prince trying to grow his wings so he can fly high above his father, the fairy king. Whenever the fairy prince flew to high though, the fairy king would rip up his wings."

The President nodded. "Alright, so if you were to come out as Kuon, Kyoko would recognize you as Corn and react negatively because you lied to her all this time."

"That's my concern, yes," Ren muttered, "but when you sent Kyoko to Guam a day early, she saw me in my blond hair and immediately recognized me as Corn. I tried to play it off as if I wasn't who she thought I was but when I saw her beginning to cry, I couldn't continue. So I once again put on the role of Corn and acted like a fairy prince. Made up some magical story that explained why my voice and my 'physical data', as she puts it, are nearly identical to Ren Tsuruga's." Ren paused before continuing, debating whether or not he should tell the President the other part. "I also told her that a witch cast a spell on me and the only way to break it was with a kiss."

President Takarada smirked as he said, "You sly dog. So you're telling me you want to reveal all 3 of your identities to Kyoko before you reveal to the public that you are actually Kuon Hizuri but you're not sure how to break it to her without her overreacting too much."

Ren was surprised that the President hit the nail on the head. "Yes, that's right. The part about me loving her, though, I'd rather wait on that."

Takarada was taken aback. "Why not?! The sooner you tell her, the better."

"I don't want to give her so much information that she short circuits."

"But if you tell her that you lied to her about your identity because you love her and didn't want to hurt her, the situation would play out better than if you wouldn't" the President exclaimed.

"You think so?"

Takarada looks at Ren with a raised eyebrow. "I'm an advocate for love. I don't think, I know."

* * *

 **To my returning readers:**

I'm sorry I left you hanging with my last fan fiction. I was going through tough times with my studies shortly after publishing the chapters. When I got the desire to write again, I read back on _Confessions in Paradise_ and felt that I could do better than that. Plus with the recent chapters, I found it difficult to continue the story. I plan to write (not publish) a little bit everyday so I could get a good portion of my fan fiction completed before the next chapter of the manga comes out on May 20th.

Thank you for taking the time to read my fan fiction. Have a good day everyone!


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